Many small animals are shipped from place to place in shipping containers. During the transport of the small animal, it is advisable to provide water for their consumption in order to prevent dehydration of the animal. This is particularly true where the animals may be in transit for extended periods of time. One particular example of such a situation is the shipping of poultry hatchlings from the hatchery to the farmers who will be raising the hatchlings for market. In many situations, the hatchlings are shipped to the farms within the first few days of life and such very young poultry hatchlings are susceptible to dehydration if deprived of water for more than a day. In addition, poultry hatchlings do not enter feeding cycles until after they have ingested a certain amount of water. Thus, in the shipping of poultry hatchlings, it would be advantageous to provide for sufficient fluid to prevent dehydration of the hatchlings while not causing the hatchlings to commence the feeding cycle.
Attempts to provide drinking receptacles for shipping cartons have thus far not been totally acceptable as it is difficult to secure traditional drinking containers such as water bottles to the shipping cartons. The use of drinking trays has also been tried but once again it it difficult to secure the drinking tray to prevent its movement and possible tipping over during transportation.